NEWPORT, R.I.—Jennifer Capriati stepped to the podium, her pastel chiffon skirt and blouse billowing ever so slightly in the sweltering, lifeless air. When the sold-out Center Court crowd—which had just listened to Monica Seles heap praise on their parallel careers as teen prodigies who had overcome great difficulties in their lives—rose to their feet in tribute, Capriati cupped her hands to her cheeks.
“No one told me that hardest part would be holding back the tears,” said Capriati, moments before donning the traditional navy blue sports jacket given to new members of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. It was a crowning achievement for the 36-year-old, who was inducted alongside three-time French Open champion Gustavo “Guga” Kuerten of Brazil; former Spanish great and 1975 U.S. Open winner Manuel Orantes; wheelchair pioneer Randy Snow, who won 22 major titles during his career; and Mike Davies, a former executive with World Championship Tennis and the ATP, who introduced such lasting innovations as yellow tennis balls, colored clothing, and 90-second changeover breaks, all of which were attractive to the burgeoning television audiences of the early 1970s.
For Capriati, the chance to look back at her career, and her life, has been both exhilarating and cathartic. Admitting that she’d felt near-constant chills since arriving in Newport on Thursday, the Florida resident (who just sold her Singer Island home but hasn’t yet decided where she’s going) has used the occasion “to take inventory, all the stock of my life, really reflect on this amazing moment.”
Among her most enduring memories, of course, are her three major championships—the 2001 Australian Open where, as the 12th seed, she upset Seles in the quarterfinals, world No. 2 Lindsay Davenport in the semis, and top-seeded Martina Hingis in the final; the 2001 French Open, at which she beat Hingis and then Kim Clijsters—1-6, 6-4, 12-10—to take the title, fighting back four times after being two points from defeat; and the 2002 Australian Open in which she delivered one of the most dramatic victories of her career. Played on a similarly sweltering day, with on-court temperatures topping 105 degrees, Capriati rallied from a set and 4-0 down, saving four championship points (including one in which a cross-court backhand clipped the sideline for a winner) to defeat Hingis, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2. That win enabled Capriati to reclaim the world No. 1 ranking that she had gained and lost a year earlier.
But perhaps the win that means the most to Capriati is her 1992 Olympic gold medal. On the wall of her childhood home at Saddlebrook, a tennis resort outside Tampa, hangs a large glass frame. Inside are a photograph of Capriati, atop the podium in Barcelona, straddled by silver medalist Steffi Graf and bronze medalist Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. Next to it is another picture, this one of fireworks during the closing ceremony. In between sits Capriati’s gold medal, so precious that she declined to bring it to Newport lest it might get lost.
It has been 20 years since Capriati beat Graf, the defending Olympic champion and world No. 1, for the first and only time in 11 career meetings. Just 16 but already a teenage phenom in her third year on tour, Capriati had won three WTA titles, broken countless “youngest-ever” records, and had reached three major semifinals, including at Wimbledon in ’91 where she ousted nine-time champion Martina Navratilova. But she had not yet broken through to capture a prominent title—until the ’92 Olympics.
“It was a huge title that I finally won,” says Capriati, relaxing on a coach inside the Hall of Fame theater shortly before the Induction ceremony began. “I remember playing Arantxa in the semis. It was in her country and I remember that in the middle of the match the King [Juan Carlos] came out and disrupted us. I said something. I had no idea who he was. That was pretty funny. Then, beating Steffi in the final, we both played so well, it was a real grinder.”
“That was one of the highlights of my career,” adds Capriati, who admits to wishing she could represent her country again this year in London. “It was the greatest experience. It was just so much fun to be playing for my country, to be with all the other athletes [like American swimmers Summer Sanders and Janet Evans]. There was such a camaraderie. Even though everyone was competing against each other we put differences aside….supported each other, cheered for each other. I had never felt that before. I think that’s why I played so well and I was able to win, just because I was really stress-free. I was having so much fun. I couldn’t believe I was there. It really came out in my play.”
Capriati is the first to admit that her life has been anything but stress-free. While not addressing it in detail, she alluded to her time away from the game from late ’93 until early ’95—a time filled with teenaged angst and rebellion—by referring to her return to the game as her “second career.” Her greatest sadness, and what continues to haunt her, is that fact that her body betrayed her—and ultimately forced her to retire—just when she was playing some of the best tennis of her career. First it was her back, then her shoulder and her wrist. She has undergone multiple surgeries since 2004, always with the hope of feeling well enough to play the game again.
“There is no mystery,” says Capriati who, in a mature, eloquent, and thoughtful Hall of Fame acceptance speech, paid tribute to a host of coaches and friends, as well as to her parents, Denise and Stefano, and her brother, Steven, for teaching her, understanding her and loving her. “The mystery is that it was tough having to leave the game when I did. It was not by choice. It’s like mourning a loved one, a relationship gone, a part of yourself.
“It’s the hardest thing to accept,” adds Capriati. “My whole life revolved around tennis in every single way. You try to separate yourself as an individual and what you do but you really can’t separate the two things. It wasn’t that I decided I didn’t want to play the game anymore; it was the injuries. Emotionally, spiritually, physically, it all took a toll. I didn’t want to transition into anything. I didn’t want to let go. I wasn’t ready to be done. It was just so exhausting. No one quite understood what I was going through.”
Capriati now knows that it’s time to move on. She speaks of wanting to help people, maybe coach kids through either the Women’s Tennis Association or the United States Tennis Association. She is interested in going back to school and earning a college degree. After expending so much time and energy trying to return to a past life, this International Tennis Hall of Fame induction may well be the catalyst to closing one door and thrusting open a window of opportunity.
“I feel like I’m finally letting go,” says the prodigal child who has finally become a woman. “I was stuck, kind of lost. I was looking back and when you look back you can’t go forward. But I just didn’t know. I had a lot of feelings, a lot of resentment, even some anger within myself and at the game. ‘Why is this happening? I don’t want to go.’ There was just so much for me to try to figure out. Now I realize I can do anything I want and more.”
When Capriati was just 14 years old, in her first season on tour, she played Martina Navratilova in a final in Hilton Head, South Carolina. When she lost, a giggly Capriati referred to her opponent as a “Ledge”, as in Legend. Now, as a 2012 Hall of Famer, Capriati can finally shed the baggage that has all-too-often trailed behind her like an anchor in Narragansett Bay. For now, she too is a “Ledge.”